Songs: Molly and Tenbrooks, True Life Blues, I'm On My Way Back To The Old Home, Highway Of Sorrow, Old Ebenezer Scrooge, Memories Of You, Rawhide, Can't You Hear Me Callin', Letter From My Darling, Sittin' Alone In The Moonlight, Big Mon, Get Down On Your Knees And Pray, Used To Be, Scotland, Travelin' This Lonesome Road, Heavy Traffic Ahead, Little Cabin Home On The Hill

Personnel: Todd Phillips -- bass; plus an all-star cast featuring Alan O'Bryant, Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Del and Ronnie McCoury, Tim and Mollie O'Brien, Stuart Duncan, and many others

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and assume that since you are currently reading this here bluegrass magazine that you are a fan of bluegrass music. That having been said, I'm also going to assume that you know who the late Bill Monroe was. If you are indeed into bluegrass, then you know who the marquee players are today. And if you were to buy but one final bluegrass CD, and if you'd be having a hard time figuring out which one it should be, then you need look no further than True Life Blues, The Songs of Bill Monroe. It is a veritable all-star tribute to Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music that is now available just a few short weeks after his death.

Originally intended to be a living tribute to Bill Monroe, True Life Blues is a project that was started two years back by bassman Todd Phillips, who traveled the country recording some of the best contemporary bluegrass bands and players around. There are 17 songs here, with the emphasis being on not just Bill Monroe, The Legend, but also on Bill Monroe, The Songwriter. Bill wrote 15 of the songs here by himself, and the remaining two were co-written with former Bluegrass Boys Lester Flatt or Pete Pyle. And for those of you who look closely, the author of Memories Of You is one James B. Smith, one of the many pseudonyms that Bill used over the course of his 60 years in the music business.

There are 30 artists on True Life Blues, all of whom were inspired by Bill Monroe either as a member of his band or as a lover of bluegrass music. While space does not allow a breakdown of every song or mention of every player, four of the tunes are instrumentals along with a few numbers sung by members of The Nashville Bluegrass Band, Del and Ronnie McCoury, former Bluegrass Boy Peter Rowan, siblings Tim and Mollie O'Brien, and harmonic duets by Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick; fiddles by Bluegrass alums Vassar Clements, Richard Greene and Bobby Hicks; mandolins by Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, and Mike Compton; banjos brought to you by John Hartford, Tony Trishka, Craig Smith, and Herb Pedersen; and bass played on every song but one by producer Todd Phillips.

And for those of your who are worried, you can rest easy -- there is no version of Blue Moon Of Kentucky, the song that launched the career of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. One can only wonder what the music world would be like today if not for The Father and The King.

If you can't afford the box set of Bill Monroe that's available, True Life Blues, The Songs of Bill Monroe is one CD you should have in your bluegrass collection. It's too bad that Bill isn't still around to hear this offering of love and thanks from the all-stars of the bluegrass scene. I have no doubt that he is leading the jam up there in that cabin in Gloryland with the all-stars who have gone on before.